About Our Company

Since 1987, photographer Steve Kwak, owner and founder of PictoBooks, has operated a reputable wedding studio local to the DC Metro Area. In 1990 the industry demanded a new and refreshing way to photograph weddings. Steve and a staff of award winning photographers embraced the challenge, ultimately excelling in a style of photography known today as wedding photojournalism.

Photojournalism is a photographic style that has received much praise over the years. It shies away from traditional pose shots, and instead allows the photographer to step back and let the day unfold. Rather than stage a photograph, the focus is to capture the moments of love and emotion between the bride and groom as they journey through the ceremonies of marriage on their wedding day.

When photojournalism was first becoming popular, wedding albums were limited to the traditional slip-in albums; however, photographers embracing the new style of shooting craved a different method of presentation, one that was designed to deliver the final images in the most flattering way possible. Realizing this need, Steve began producing his own albums; thus PictoBooks prototypes had been born. His albums were created in-house, individually hand crafted, custom designed, and custom bound.

Initially, these albums were only manufactured for his clients, building a reputation of trust, service and quality, but in the year 2000, PictoBooks was officially formed and the albums were made available to other professionals. PictoBooks expanded their production facilities and purchased state of the art digital printing equipment. New goals were set to create the most stylized professional wedding albums in the industry.

Since its establishment, PictoBooks has emerged as an industry leader for professional photographers around the country and has redefined the wedding and portrait world with a modern coffee table style book. Beautifully handcrafted and custom designed, each PictoBooks is individually tailored to your needs using only the highest quality materials.

PictoBooks are elegant, first edition albums that represent a new and revolutionary approach to the old traditional style wedding album. PictoBooks takes you on a journey from start to finish, a breathtaking experience as your pictures come alive.

Precious Metal Series and Exclusive Presentation Case
The Precious Metal Series is PictoBooks Ultra High End album and is completely customized to your needs. This Series features Platinum, Gold, White Gold, Silver, and is adorned with your choice of Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires, or Emeralds. Wrapped in Ostrich leather and starting at $10,000, the Precious Metal is only available through special order. Each Precious Metal Album is presented in its own presentation case. It is unique presentation that is exclusive to this series. Like the Album, it is completely customized to your needs, and is handcrafted with exotic woods by professionally skilled woodworkers. (More Details)

Signature Series
For a photographic presentation that is both stylish and incomparable, photographers turn to the Picto Signature Series. These albums are bound in the highest quality genuine leather, and are available in a variety of sizes from 6x6 to 15x15. As a finishing touch, add a full-cover cameo to really impress. (More Details)

Wooden Series
The Picto Wooden Series is a completely wild selection of 12 real wooden veneer laminates representing the most beautiful and exotic wood species in the world. These unique Wooden albums are only available in the sizes of 11x11 and 11x14(vertical). (More Details)

Metallic Series
The Picto Metallic Series was designed for photographers who want to present their work in a modern and unique way. The edgy metallic albums are only available in the sizes of 11x11 and 11x14 (vertical). There are 11 different varieties of trendy metal covers to choose from. Cameos sized either 3x4(vertical), 4x4, and 3x7(vertical) round out the options for this very remarkable album. (More Details)

Cocktail Series
The Picto Cocktail Series provides both vivid sophistication and fine craftsmanship in an elegant album. These albums are bound with fine fabric and come with your choice of metallic or matte dust jacket. Picto Cocktail albums are presented in sizes from 6x6 to 11x11 with 5 different varieties of silk to choose from. Choose to bind your album with custom fabrics, or submit the fabric of your choice for a completely custom look. (More Details)

Cameo
PictoBooks has created a stylish and artistic method of adding pizzazz to the cover of our handcrafted albums by creating our patent pending cameo. The three dimensional cameo is a vibrant metallic inlay that is created using a patent pending coating process. Cameos are scratch resistant, smooth to the touch, and are available in a variety of sizes including the stunning full cover cameo. This is a one of a kind mounting and coating process unique to PictoBooks.

Presentation Box
The Picto Presentation Box comes standard when you order a PictoBooks album and provides easy album storage to ensure your album will last for years to come. (not available with the Bijou). Let potential customers know about your studio by including your studio name of the inside cover of each and every presentation box you deliver. Take advantage of this option free of charge. Further astound your clients by offering them a custom monogram on the outside cover of their presentation boxes. Choose one of ours or submit your own for eye-catching personalization that is simple and effective. (More Details)

PictoBooks Binding
All pages are flush mounted on acid free boards using special glue that allows for flexibility. Enjoy durability and longevity with a lifetime guarantee of beauty. PictoBooks offers photographers the freedom to design on a larger canvas by featuring panorama binding. One of the unique features of this binding being that the spreads lay flat when the album is opened, creating an unsurpassed viewing experience.

PictoBooks Printing
PictoBooks provides you with any type of service you desire. Send us printed pages printed by the photo lab of your choice for our Binding only service, or use all our services from Design to Printing to Binding. It's completely up to you. For your Print and Bind needs, rest assured that all printing is done in-house, and image files are evaluated and adjusted for color and density to ensure the highest possible quality. Our Polielectronica Laser Lab Digital Photographic Printer is completely color managed to ensure accurate color, and Laser Lab prints are made on Kodak Digital E surface photographic paper. Each page in your PictoBook is then treated with a special lacquer coating so you are worry free. Lacquer coating creates a beautifully subtle texture while at the same time fingerprint proofs and waterproofs your pages, ensuring total protection from the elements.

Bijou by PictoBooks
The Bijou offers a solution to the photographer seeking a high quality professional album with a budget in mind. Our petite, elegant album is unparalleled in the album industry with its quick turn-around, and thinner binding. Bijou albums come in four sizes ranging from 8x8 to 10x10; additionally, there are various cover options to choose from in different colors and textures.

Though cameos are not available for the Bijou, optional monograms or graphics can be featured on the cover instead. Choose one of ours or submit your own for instant personalization. (More Details)